GROWING SEASON: ARE FARMERS REALLY BEING INTIMIDATED?

Summer is unmistakably the growing season, whether your green thumb is
producing a legal crop or an illegal one. But farmers finding their
fields hijacked by marijuana growers may have a little extra help in
dealing with the problem.

In Brome-Missisquoi and in Coaticook, farmers can sign a "social
contract" with the Surete du Quebec . The contract gives police
permission to venture onto the land at any time in search of outlaw
plantations. Otherwise police can't check a property without probable
cause, or permission from the landowner.

"This increases their security because the grower doesn't necessarily
know where the police got their information from," said Lt. Jimmy
Potvin, head of the Coaticook detachment of the SQ. "It helps avoid
intimidation."

However, cases of intimidation may not be as common as news coverage
would make it seem. Media reports of farmers being threatened by
growers are common, but often lack people willing to come forward to
back up the allegations. Just how often it actually happens is unclear.

"I've had no cases of intimidation reported," Potvin
said.

He agreed it may be more of a case of farmers silently agreeing to
look the other way rather than cause trouble.

In Coaticook this is the second year of the social contract, a program
brought in from the Mauricie region. With its large tracts of farmland
accompanied by a booming marijuana market and proximity to the US
border, Coaticook's public security committee cited pot as one of its
prime concerns.

Those farm fields make for ideal growing conditions for marijuana: The
soil is well tilled, and crops like corn help hide the pot plants. In
some cases growers have been known to go into a corn field and clear
large areas for their own use. Often a farmer will only discover the
plantation when they harvest their corn in the fall.

"We imported the project and adapted it to our local conditions,"
Potvin said. He said the objective is to get 100 of the MRC's 475
farms to sign the social contract.

Over in Brome-Missisquoi this week, SQ officers retrieved 880
marijuana plants from a farm field on Rang 5 in St-Ignace-de-Stanbridge
after receiving information from the public. Another, smaller
plantation was found on Dymond Road in Dunham, as well.

Operation Cisaille, the SQ's year-round anti-marijuana operation, has
itself been growing. Between 1981 and 2004 the number of marijuana
cases has increased by 460 per cent. While the SQ hauled away 74,000
pot plants in Quebec in 1993, in 2005 they seized over 700,000 plants.
Quebec leads all Canadian provinces in seizures, beating out British
Columbia by nearly 200,000 plants a year.

It's also more potent now than ever before. According to the SQ's
Internet website, weed grown in the 1970s had about three per cent
THC, the active ingredient that gives smokers a buzz. Today's
Townships Gold boasts a heady 11.5 per cent THC, and levels up to
nearly 30 per cent have been recorded in some high-end varieties.

Farmers aren't the only ones having to contend with outlaw gardeners.
The SQ says 47 per cent of its busts are indoor operations, typically
in rented homes. It says growers are attracted to Quebec's lower
property values and lighter criminal sentences.

While farmers have to deal with crop loss, homeowners who
inadvertently rent to growers have to deal with moisture damage and
other problems once the growers leave. In most cases insurance
companies don't cover grow-op damage, even if an electrical problem
makes the whole place go up in flames.

Police suggest that if you come upon a plantation, it's best to stay
away. The plantation may be guarded or booby trapped: go home and call
the Info Crime line at 1-800-711-1800. All calls to Info Crime are
confidential, and cannot even be traced. Or you can call the SQ
directly at 310-4141.

The signs

The SQ offers some advice on things to watch for if you suspect there
are marijuana growers in your area:

Outdoor plantations

- - The comings and goings of unfamiliar vehicles. That can include cars
parked on back roads near fields of forests. Some municipalities have
outlawed parking on their secondary roads to make it harder for pot
farmers.

- - The discovery of new or unusual trails. These may be marked in some
way to help the grower find their plantation.

- - Discarded gardening equipment, tools, or empty fertilizer
containers. Farmer Brown probably isn't using Miracle Grow on his
25-acre corn field.

Indoor plantations

- - Houses where no one seems to live, but which are visited
regularly.

- - Windows are never open. They may even be blocked so no one can see
in.

- - A persistent ventilation sound. This may be accompanied by a
lingering skunky smell - the smell of marijuana.